Chevy Silverado: Problems & Solutions

04cad

I have been to several places in the past few years to have my trucks serviced and it seems like none of them want to grease the trucks. They all say the newer trucks have no fittings until I call their bluff. Once the guy had me come out so he could show me there weren't any. It was really kind of funny, he reached in and said see there isn't ........ then he checked another spot and then he sort of looked down and said pull it back in and we will grease it. Another time I was standing at the front of my truck while the guy in the pit was draining the oil and I asked the guy getting ready to put the new oil in how many fittings they had and he said none. I said yes it does and he asked the guy underneath to double check and the next thing I hear is the chucka chucka of the grease gun pumping grease into each fitting. I just had the 2005 serviced and asked the service manager up front how many fittings they had, he said he didn't know he would have to ask. When I picked it up and got home I checked and sure enough there wasn't any fresh grease near any of the three fittings I could reach. They all had grit and black dust around and on them. I called and he said to bring it back in and they would put it on the lift to see if it had been greased or not. A half hour later the service manager said my truck was done, no apology or anything, just your truck is done. Does anyone out there know for sure how many fittings this model does have? thanks

04cad

You probably have already tried this but my o4 Caddy was fine prior to rotating the tires. Then there was vibration when slowing down and at certain speeds. After a rebalance the vibration went away. They may need balancing again with a little more care. By the way the service tech wanted to know if the car was ever in a wreck. What he didn't know was the wheels were new 4 months earlier and hadn't been a problem until the rotation.

geo9

04......There are 11 zerk fittings on your truck.
Open your e-mail on your profile and I can send ya
a diagram with locations................

clayt2

I have a 2000 Chevy C1500 with a 4.8 liter 4-8 engine w/ 160,000 miles. When I am at a stop light with my foot on the brake, RPM's drop to 3-400 and the whole engine shutters and vibrates making a dieseling noise. When I pop it in to neutral, RPM's jump to 1300 and then drop to normal idle speed. It also shifts pretty hard from first to second, even w/out flooring it. Truck also has no pickup, and I can put accelorator to the floor w/ foot on the brake and there is very little response. Codes show TPS sensor and Mass Air flow. Replaced both and no luck. Mechanic wants to change torque converter and seals, and another says it is a vacumn leak. Turning off the A/C does help. Any suggestions?

clayt2

I have the security message on all the time as well, and once a month I get in and the truck starts and immediately dies like it isn't getting any fuel. If I sit for 10 minutes, it eventually starts up. I recently had a diagnostic done for other problems, and the Theft Passwoed Incorrect code came up, # P1631. The dealer says there is sensor in the igniotion that reads the key and it goes out--I don't know if there is a recall, but dealer said it was around $250-300 to replace, It has never left me stranded, IO just wait 10 minutes and it always starts.

noobie1

Check this out.

http://gm-trucks.com/home/content/view/123/25/

-David

geo9

DAVE.....thats the link I was gonna send him too !

noobie1

I'd like to take credit for the link, but I think it's Ryan's discovery. And a good one it is too.

-David

04cad

Thanks for the reply. I think I have enabled my email to show up. How do I set it so I get an email when I get a reply? I thought it was already set that way but it may be the Corvette forum. I haven't figured out how to do it here yet. Thanks

04cad

Thanks to all who replied. I plan to print the page out and put it in my truck from now on when I have it serviced. I still don't understand why the service centers don't go ahead and grease them when they are already under the vehicles? And to all of you who are sure yours are being greased at each service, either watch them or check for fresh grease afterwards and you may be surprised. Like I said this has happened to me at three separate businesses, over several years, on several different models of Chevy trucks. I know of two other individuals who have had the same experience. Happy trucking!!!

rcherry

I have no power at the unit or at the splice and I checked for continuity in the new brown wire and that was fine. I wired the harness to the brown wire between the two connectors to the transfer case.

geo9

You have the shift on the floor right?
NOT a pushbutton correct?

Have you checked all the fuses?

BTW: Your e-mail link DOES work now !
You have mail !

clayt2

I posted a problem a couple of days ago, and I have now spent $950 to replace my torque converter and u-joints, as well as converter seals. Guess what--problem isn't fixed. My engine makes a dieseling noise when I am at idle in drive, and it still shutters and drops RPM's really low, the whole front end shakes excessively,very slow response when I take off from a stop. Any suggestions? Mechanic swears it isn't vacumn related. The u-joints helped a whole lot, but mechanic said there were 3 instead of two. I have a 2000 Chevy C1500, 2 door extended cab with 4.8 liter, V-8 engine.

nomad11

It is an ignition switch problem. It will cost about $200 to get a new one plus the labor costs unless you have the specialty tools needed to get the ignition parts disassembled from the column. I have a 1995 silverado, and it has happened twice to me. The problem is random, and I never knew when the vehicle would start or randomly just quit while driving and then not want to restart. The dash lights would not light-up and no fuel would reach the engine. When the dash lights would come on, the truck would start just fine.

nomad11

It is an ignition switch problem. It will cost about $200 to get a new one plus the labor costs unless you have the specialty tools needed to get the ignition parts disassembled from the column. I have a 1995 silverado, and it has happened twice to me. The problem is random, and I never knew when the vehicle would start or randomly just quit while driving and then not want to restart. The dash lights would not light-up and no fuel would reach the engine. When the dash lights would come on, the truck would start just fine.

KCRam

We don't have the capability to email members when replies are posted... yet. It is on the wish list, so hang in there.

kcram - Pickups Host

speedjerm

My 96 2500 with a 5.7 vortec acts like it is chocking out when i give it throttle. I replaced the fuel pump and filter and it still does it. If I slowly press the throttle it will run fine. I took the air breather of the intake and it stalls( too much air). When going up hills it's bad and the longer I drive the worse it gets and some times the engine light comes on and the temp gets a little hot. A few people said it may be the catalitic converters clogged up. They suggested punching out to see if it will run any better. Please respond with any advise or suggestions to speedjerm@hotmail.com or reply here. Thanks in advance. :confuse: :sick:

haze_pa

Before you take your truck to a dealer for this problem, try removing the intake duct and use a piece of scotchbrite to remove the ridge of crap that builds up around the valve causing it to stick. I have a 2000 Silverado and have done this twice now.

jake357

i am the second owner of a 2000 chevy silverado, i recently had to install a new battery . after doing this i noticed that the radio was "locked" since i am the second owner i do not have a password, i was told by some people that the radio is now junk. is this true or is there anything i can do, i thought by changing out batteries it would reset the computer, but i guess i was wrong, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

speedjerm

Jake357,
No the radio is not junk... You can bring the truck to your local chevrolet dealer and for about $10.00 they can reset the code and write it down so you have it next time you take your battery out.

rweb

No rain and no mud, here it is early December and no speedometer working at all. Spend $700- $800 on a new instrument cluster, or buy christmas for the family? Better off just going with the flow of traffic, then paying outrageous dealer pricing. :mad: :lemon:

bsv007

I have a 2006 Chevy 1500 Silverado with the factory-installed 7-wire trailer harness, but it did not come with the plug installed, it only has the socket which accepts the plug. Does anyone know where you can purchase the plug that fits this or is it only sold by Chevrolet?

rayt2

The truck is equipped as is to be "trailer ready" if that option was ordered, and only comes with the female connection 7 pin. The trailer you would be towing has the male seven pin, but that is only for trailers equipped with brakes. If under a certain weight brakes are not required ie: small pop-up camper, open utility trailer. For those a 4 pin connector is required. You will need to hook up the trailer brake (optional) for which the harness for that is in the glove box with a fuse (at least that's where mine was when I took delivery in 2000). Trailers usually come with the 7 pin or 4 pin "male" side of the plug attached. If you need a blank Walmart, K-mart, Auto Zone or any good camping supply store will carry them.

Ray T. :shades:

bsv007

That sounds like exactly what I have, the female connection 7 pin. There is also a separate connector next to the 7-pin, not sure if this is for a light or not. I'm not planning to pull anything heavy that would require use of trailer brakes, just a small utility trailer. Is there a specific brand or model that plugs into that specific factory female connection 7-pin or would Auto Zone, Pep Boys, etc. be able to tell me? Thanks.

p100

Yes. Auto Zone sells a specific adapter that adapts the 7 pin connector to either a 6 pin or a 4 pin connector. You will also need to get a 4 pin connector extension harness with it.

bsv007

Thanks for all the help.

geodawg03

Hey, I have a 1991 K1500 that did the same thing.. I had a hundred tests ran and 20 diff people look at it..I finally got it fixed and it was the distributor.. i guess it had wore down
at the bottom.. once it was replaced it hasnt died and its been over a year.. and it also stopped my belt from sqweeking
Maybe this will help you..

litew8t

This is the msg I got on my msg center. I took the truck in and they said it was the Tranfercase control module.
They quoted 566.25 for the part and 170.00 to install .
I said no thanks because it doesn't stay on all the time.
Any thoughts on this or where I can get a cheaper part.
thanks

it is an automatic

bigfur

Has anyone tried a Hypertech tuner on their trucks? Thinking about getting one for my 2001 5.3 Silverado. just wondering if they are worth it. Thanks.

ssb

About 2 weeks after I posted that the speedometer had started back working it went back to it's old ways. Also the Oil pressure gage does the same. Sometimes it reads correctly and other times it pegs the needle to the right. Speedometer needle pegged clockwise and oil pressure gage pegger clockwise. Hows that for a $40K truck w/ 90K miles. What did we expect them to do make something thet works?

johan

the problem you have is exactly the problem i have word for word.There must be a head light relay but i cant find one that distinctly says head lights.I have been told by G M that it could be a short but what are the odds you and i having the same short.

obyone

Don't do it. There are better tuners out there if that's really what you want to do. Unless of course you can get one for a $50/$100 off of ebay.

bigfur

Please oh great ones... educate me on what i do not know. Ok so whats a better one to go with. Only reason i like hypertech is that i can still run 87 in it.

hondaboy2002

I have a 1998 and 1990 gmc 1/2 pickup truck. Both seem to have the same front 4WD problem. The front drive shaft spins from the t-case down to the gear case on both. I took the actuators out of both and put them in four wheel drive. Both actuators projected out. The 1990 has a thermal actuator and I believe the 1998 is electric. My problem is neither four wheel drives work. The push button 4x4 light comes on in the 1998, but the front wheels won't spin. The 4x4 lights won't even light up in the 1990. I am stumped. The four wheel drive worked in the 1990 a month ago. Don't know about the 1998. Any ideas? thanks

roughneck

I noticed a little bit ago that when I use the keyless entry to unlock my truck(2004 2500 hd duramax) the latch on the driver side front didn't open all the way but I could still open the door. Then it got really cold and would not unlock and the key would not turn it keyhole. The rest of the doors unlocked. But when it warmed up again the locks were fine. Any suggestions. At first I thought that it might be hanging up on something or it needed to be lubricated, but it is fine in warm weather.

geo9

JAKE.........List your email addy in your profile
only. I can send you instructions on how to unlock
your NON- RDS GM radio............

If it is a RDS unit you must take it to the dealer.

geo9

BIG......I have a Hypertech 3 unit in my 04 6.0.
It sure has a lot more pep along with a few more mpgs.
The only thing I do not like about it is it does
not modify the torque mgmt. system in the GM 6.0/8.1s.
With both handhelds you can change settings at will
or remove the tune entirely if a dealer visit is
necessary.

My next tuner will prob. be a Diablo Preditor which
will disable or modify the torque mgmt. settings.

I did consider a PCM burn tuner but have read that
the GM Tech machine can detect the altered settings
and erase them if a GM updated mod program is
programmed in by the dealer..................

Tough choice..........But happy with mine !

skoot6161

I have a 2003 Silverado crew cab with 56,000 miles on it... sometimes it works, sometimes it pins itself on a set speed, sometimes it just falls back to 0. It even went all the way to 120mph doing less than 40mph.

dps2

Hi Tom:

I finally got my truck back into the dealer. My speedometer was stuck at 130! I had the extended warranty and so they replaced the whole instrument cluster. Problem solved. Not sure what this would actually cost if you have to pay for it.

Patrick

roughneck

I bought my 04 used and the speedo had the exact symptoms. The dealer paid to fix it. They also changed out the hole instrument cluster and whatever mileage was on the truck when I first brought it to the dealer they rolled back the mileage for me. At the time the part was on back order. It took about 6 weeks to come in. To me is sounded like a pretty common problem. The mechanic told me the waiting list used to be about 3 months. Plus the cluster had a $1000 core charge.

trucky

Sorry if this is a duplicate posting. I own a 1999 chevy silverado 1500 4x4. The other day I was driving approx. 55 mph and began to slow down to approx. 45 mph. When I went to accelerate back to 55, I felt a jerking in the truck. This has happened several times now but only when at higher speeds than like 45 mph. It feels like the truck is not downshifting out of overdrive when slowing down and then is jerking while trying to get back to speed. It feels like starting out in 3rd gear on a manual trans. Any suggestions on what the problem is. The truck has 73k miles on it and has never had a problem like this in the past. I have never changed the trans fluid either.
Thanks Trucky

tmachines

I have a 2006 silverado 1500 work truck with a 4.8v8 and a 5spd trans, when I get going from a stop my truck makes a ton of trans noise, and when I push in the clutch it makes a weird double cluck noise, (clunk,clunk), and still has a whole lot of whining noise, could you please tell me this normal noise for a work truck, or am I going to see soon transmsition problems? Thanks

jesse_224

I own a 95 Silverado with a 350 engine 145,xxx miles. It has been running great until last week. I got in one morning and it would not start. It has been real cold here in Illinois so I automatically thought it was the battery. but then I notice my lights and radio and all were working fine, plus when i would turn the key i could hear it hitting the starter. I went ahead and had the battery tested and it is fine (630 cold cranking if i remember right). The truck will not start on its own but if I use another car to jump it, it will start every time. Im not sure what to check next? Maybe the starter? If anyone has any ideas that could help please let me know.

p100

Check you battery cable terminals. Sometimes corrosion occurs internally, so you do not see it. Also, check the battery cable connections to the starter (positive cable) and to the engine block (negative cable). You could have corroded or loose connctions there. You may want to consider replacing the battery cables at this stage. It is not that expensive and may solve your problem.

People tend to clean the cable terminals at the battery, but often forget the other cable ends, which are just as important. For example, if the negative battery cable connection to the engine block is loose or corroded, current will not flow properly and starter needs a lot of current.

joe29001

I had the same truck (2003 Sierra 4.8, 5 speed 4x4) and the transmission made plenty of noise. Two GMC dealers said that the noise was 'normal' and that there was no way to fix it.

There is some info on the web (try searching for NV3500 gear rattle). You might also check Dodge forums as the NV3500 is/was used in the Dakota and 1500.

The NV3500 is the weak link in a 1/2 ton truck drivetrain (really a mid-size truck tranny, GM won't even install it in an extended cab 4x4). Look at the tow ratings with 5 speed vs auto. The 5 speed is ~2,000 lb less (limited to 10,000 lb CGVW, if I recall correctly). Perhaps if GM installed an adequate transmission, it might operate a little more smoothly.

Good luck.

p100

This explains why they did not offer a manual transmission in trucks with 5.3 liter engines. Incidentally, not long ago I saw a customized new Silverado truck with a 5 speed manual and supercharged 4.8 liter engine for sale on eBay. This was being sold by a GM dealer with full factory warranty. I wonder if they beefed up the transmission to match the 350+ HP output of the engine? If not, this truck will be a major diapointment for the new owner.

Why don't they just use a heavy duty manual 6 speed transmission that they use in the 2500 series, in the half ton version? The 6.0, 8.1, and Duramax engine trucks are all available with heavy duty 6 speed manual tranmsisions (and I assume heavy duty clutch too). The clutch is typically the weak link that limits the tow rating capacity with a manual tranmission. The best manual transmission in a pickup truck IMO is the Dodge Cummins pickup 6 speed manual. This Getrag tranmsission is supposedly also used in larger commercial trucks and the tow rating is something like 13,000 lbs.

cchild03

We have a 98 Silverado. Back in the summer, the A/C blower began working intermittently. Sometimes, the fan/blower would work at all settings. Other times, it would only work on high. Sometimes, it wouldn't work at all at any setting and then would kick in after we drove for awhile. The same thing is happening with the heater now, which had been working fine all fall. After the truck is warmed up, it radiates heat, but the blower isn't forcing any kind of air out of the vents at any setting.

Any suggestions?

jjtj

It might be the blower motor resistor. I have a 2000 Silv and my blower began only working on level 3 & higher. There is a plug in resistor in the motor housing underneath the dash on the passenger side. It was very easy to change and only costs about $15.00 for the part. Not sure with your 98 if it's exactly the same but my guess is that it's at least similar. The resistor solved my problem and now the blower works on all settings.

joe29001

The 5 speed isn't offered with a 5.3 because it can't handle the torque. The NV3500 is rated for 300 ft-lb (the 5.3 produces 335 and the 4.8 produces 295). Supercharging a 4.8L/NV3500 seems like a bad idea that would definitely void the transmission warranty. Maybe they installed an upgraded transmission (NV4500?), hopefully so.

It's unfortunate that GM uses a transmission unfit for the power or CGVW of a well-equipped truck. Let's hope they address this in the 2007 redesign.

It's clear why the weak NV3500 is only available on small-motor, regular cab trucks, but (somewhat off-topic) Can someone please explain why they don't offer a plow-prep package on 1/2 ton, extended cab models?

tech76

2002 Silverado 1500, 4x4, auto transmission, 4.8L engine.
Most of the time the shift from low to second is very hard. Very seldom the shift is so smooth you almost can't feel it. Harder acceleration will usually make the shift smoother but no guarantee. Hauling a load will usually give a smoother shift. I've tried for 40,000 miles to learn the "trick" for getting a smooth shift but can't figure it out. As usual the dealer service department does not have a clue. Anybody got any ideas on how to make this transmission shift smoothly?